Elevators (for a Brighter Future!)
by immunologie
Summary: A series of events on opening night bring together Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry, a couple of Starling City's most beloved citizens, with theatre-goers Delphine Cormier and Cosima Niehaus as they navigate the unfolding mysteries of the city's villainy and their own pasts. Cophine & Faberry crossover AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _Hey guys, here's a little something that started as a very belated birthday fic request by del-fin (on tumblr) who asked for Cophine & Faberry interaction, and which eventually grew into this world incorporating things from some other fandoms and guest appearances that you might recognize and hopefully enjoy as well :) (Aly, I hope you like it :))_

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_There are superheroes and there are super villains. __But both need their own heroes too._

...

It was opening night and there was nothing lovelier than the girl with the dark brown updo. Curls like soft breezes, eyes like an insurgence of dawn amidst the artificial lights of the dressing room mirrors, her tailgate of makeup artists playing catch-up to her magnificent flapping warm ups. Even without their last minute enhancements, she was brighter than anything.

She didn't need them. _They_ needed _her_.

As much was true for everything she graced.

That's what Quinn Fabray, small town girl turned upside down city dweller, believed anyhow. And she would know extraordinary when she saw it. When she was 16, on internship visiting the laboratory sites of Oliver & Diggle Enterprises to propel her dream of a bachelor's in business administration, a chemical exhibition gone wrong had left her the only survivor. The exploding fire around the hole she leapt into consumed her with smoke, dissipating one day later to be reborn like a phoenix. From then on she had become one with the flames and all its forms; the heat, the flight into smoke, the tricks of a human-sized lighter.

It was incredible. She could almost blast herself into the air at 17. Unfortunately, she'd also set the fire the night she lost both her parents. She'd loathed herself and the infernal power ever since.

It took a few more years until she impressed the board of admissions at Starling University with her resilience over such tragedies. Until she met its shiniest star upon getting lost in the College of Performing Arts building. Twirling about the hallway by herself, her billowy hair like the welcoming earth that cooled a 16 year old's burning face, the sun through the ceiling glass her spotlight, and singing with the instrument of the finest Stradivarius, was one Rachel Berry.

And Quinn found that it was the first time she experienced a different kind of fire. And it was Rachel Berry who was able to inspire her to control the flames, physically and figuratively. And when crime became rampant in Starling in the following years, almost taking away another loved one, Quinn decided it was time to be extraordinary for good. She became dragon's breath; the Girl that flies in Smoke. _Fireside_. And Rachel Berry, her spark.

For tonight of all nights, however, it would have to be her who would provide the rising star with the spark. She rose from the counter as the last hairdresser left and moved towards the tiny girl dabbling with her lashes, never satisfied with the work of the experts, always wanting her own way.

So feisty.

Quinn liked that.

"You look great, Rach," she offered, wanting to hold back the fiddling hand, but knowing that she shouldn't interrupt when her girl was in the zone, or in preparation for it.

Rachel dropped her hands to her side and met the hazel eyes through the mirror, forehead beaded, a slight frown with hints of playfulness on her features. "You think so? I don't like the mascara. Barbra would never have allowed this heinous monstrosity."

Quinn chuckled and tenderly wiped the smudge off the edge of the brunette's crown. "You're not Barbra. You're Rachel Berry."

The precocious diva softened into a bright smile, the one that had affected Quinn so much as to allow the radiance its own little corner in her heart, and Quinn knew that she'd done her duty right.

And that she was loved.

For as much spunk as the singer effused, as much as she always wanted her way, she would allow only one other person to tame her, and it was the blonde whose stoic silence allowed her the much needed calm that seemed to escape amidst the nonstop action of her external world.

_Why do you like me?_ Quinn had asked one day after the senior concert before graduation.

Rachel was always one for boisterous drama and flair, but she looked at the girl in front of her and simply smiled like she had discovered the secrets of the Tibetan monks and infinity in that one moment. _Because you taught me calm, and to appreciate the music within the pauses. That a performance needs the rests to understand its own beauty. That.. what remains unsung seems to be the most honest - the 'almost'. It's terrifying and beautiful… You make me feel that._

Quinn almost had to jump into water after that admonition.

"Really?" Rachel chirped, turning to face her.

Quinn carefully slid her arms around the delicate frame, as to keep the intricacies of her costume intact, and pulled them closer. "You're perfect."

The girl leaned into her and softly pecked her on the lips. She tilted her head and murmured, "You know you'll have to stop being so charming if you're going to sit in the front row."

"Why?" she grinned, adding another kiss for good luck.

"Because it'll make me want to stare at you during the performance," the brunette chuckled, running a finger under Quinn's lower lip.

Quinn laughed, "You wouldn't—"

_"And__…"_ Rachel lifted the finger to stop her, their smirks meeting the other. "…You won't have easy access to a fire exit."

And with the teasing grin still on her face, the tiny diva whirled around towards the door, leaving Quinn with a burn in her cheeks and a fire in her heart.

...

"Ma chérie!"

She turned to see her favorite blonde curls scampering towards her through the sidewalk crowd of opening night and beamed. "Delphine!"

Their matching smiles continued as they held each other under the street light. It had been a while.

"I'm totally stoked that you're here," she gushed, unable to peel her eyes off the girl who once had just been another addition to the list of a budding scientist's annoyances.

Cosima Niehaus used to think that she could get by, just her, her highways of mental discoveries, and a good old joint to enjoy the ride. What else could be more fascinating than the world of science? Oliver & Diggle Enterprises had afforded the young wonder a glistening position in its Molecular Division (for Nanotechnological Development of a Brighter Future!) upon graduation with much promise and opportunity, and she had taken it. Not so much because she had intended to advance through the ranks like a Mustang on the Interstate, but because she was just plain curious. She wanted to take it all in, understand it all, make it logical… make it _make sense_.

It didn't hurt that she had quite the charming personality either. Along with the eccentricities of her dreadlocks and the festivities of her scarves, all swaying to the beat of the bangles on her wrists, she was easy to notice.

If only she would have noticed the subtleties.

Like the way First Lieutenant Delphine Cormier of the 3rd Special Ops Aviation Regiment's Alpha Squad would always hold the door open for her on the way to progress meetings involving the cooperation of both project scientists and the officers that would be using the new technology. Or the way the taller woman with the primly blonde curls, who spoke very little and seemed so serious, would always seem to give her a sort of death glare. Or how the lieutenant chose to sit in her immediate vicinity at every meeting, though Cosima was pretty sure the officer still wore said death glare.

So she would try to slink even further into her seat so as not to be noticed.

But that was the thing. The lieutenant _had_ noticed the various differences between them and wondered how this little upstart was able to enter into the confidences of such upper level meetings. The young scientist seemed to always be slackened into her chair like she did not care much, and seemed a bit _too _social, too.. _cheeky_ was the word, for the secret and serious nature of these topics. Plus, her arms seemed to wave all over the place. What happened to discipline and formality?

But then Cosima spoke, and from her mouth the seemingly endless brilliant outpour that had managed to concise itself in such a tiny frame - it was impressive. Lt. Cormier, who once thought of herself as strict and difficult to please, in the span of minutes, had somehow managed to find the magic she had been looking for all her life in the person she least expected.

And so she began to find herself magnetized towards the quirky girl, with her dreadlocks and glasses, and how the movements of her arms turned into flight patterns in the sky. She found herself standing closer, sitting closer, wanting to be closer. She started to feel protective of the smaller girl whenever a rebuttal presented itself from another colleague.

It was a fortunate thing that Cosima was able to jump at opportunities when she finally understood their presence.

Or perhaps it was a fortunate thing that Delphine Cormier decided to ask one day if the scientist would also like a cup of coffee before the meeting began.

That when Cosima had said _sure!_ and Delphine had brought back a hot cup with a dash of milk and just the right amount of sugar without even asking how the girl liked to take her coffee, Cosima had looked up to glance at the blonde sitting a few chairs shy of hers to wonder how, of all the people in her life that had ever brought her coffee, this daunting officer with the perfect posture and the perfect hair, who didn't seem to like anybody else, had managed to make her the _perfect_ cup.

And so it began - an unlikely love affair between the world of science and the armed forces, a meeting of the minds (and, eventually, the bodies) beyond the confines of secret meetings encased in glass offices. Until the project had finished and Lt. Cormier was sent off once more to lead her squad into testing missions while the young scientist continued to bore away at the molecular walls of scientific boundaries and the chambers of her own heart.

So that when Cosima got word that the lieutenant had finally been stationed back in Starling, the words _at last_ ringing through her head like those Etta James and classic rock records the blonde would play in her apartment as they both sat, working on their individual files while sneaking tender glances at the other until one would lay a hand to caress the other's just to say _I'm here_, she knew exactly how to welcome her girl back.

"So.. _Tiny Dancer_ the musical?" Delphine whimsied into the air as they looked up at the neon lights.

Cosima laughed, "Yeah. I got us orchestra seats. You're gonna love it."

"Oh?" the blonde smiled, turning towards her date. "How do you know I will?"

"It's your type of music! Come on," the smaller girl called and held out her hand.

And with that, Delphine's heart stirred. Cosima Niehaus was not one for musicals and theatre. The fact that she was willing to enslave her ears and eyes to a flood of song and dance because she knew that Delphine harbored a secret fancy for such things, and went out of her way to prepare such a night for them, made Delphine want to go to the ends of the earth, see the world - _fly_ - and still want to come back each time to _her_.

She slid her fingers into the hand in front of her and smiled as they walked in together amid catch-up conversations and glistening eyes.

_I'm here_, they seemed to say.

_Home._

...

Elsewhere in Starling, elevator doors open to an elegant room with a view of the city skyline. In front of the fireplace, a call is placed on an antique rotary desk telephone with a gold finish.

An order is given while a poster is burned in flames.

...


	2. Chapter 2

...

"Oh, it's like a really big movie theater…" Cosima murmured as they walked down the carpeted aisle, small lamps adorning glows over playbill posters of _Tiny Dancer_ with its leading lady smiling in mid-pirouette.

She grinned and whispered, "You've never been inside a Great Starway theatre, have you?"

The dreadlocks shook and continued their little bounces as they descended closer towards the front where the red curtains draped across the main stage. "Hah, sorry for being uncultured. I was too busy analyzing molecular theorems to help save the world—"

"You're so cheeky," she nudged on the girl's lower back as she scanned the darkened rows. "We're here."

They settled into their center seats, Cosima scanning the view as Delphine took their coats and folded them.

"You want me to put this in coat check?"

Cosima turned towards her. "Oh, no, it's cool. I'll just, uh— put it here," she replied, stuffing it in the crook of her seat.

"You're so strange."

"Whatever, _Lieutenant_."

"Hmm."

She leaned in to meet the girl's lips and smiled. "I've missed you."

Cosima kissed her back. "Missed you too."

The light jazz instrumentals came to a fade, the aisle lamps dimmed. The quieting crowd turned their focus to where the spotlights converged on the stage curtains. Delphine could see a few familiar heads in the front rows.

"Mayor Coulson is here.." she murmured.

"Really?" Cosima craned her head forward.

"Oui, front row, next to that blonde girl."

"Hm," her companion nodded, acknowledging the official's profile, as well as the striking blonde beside him. "Didn't know he was such a patron of the arts."

Delphine chuckled. "You've been too lost in your science, ma chérie."

"Then I take it the pretty blonde next to him isn't his wife?"

"No, his wife's the older woman on his right. With the pearls?" She chuckled as the girl in the glasses mouthed an _oops_, then lifted a brow. "So, you think the blonde's pretty, eh?"

Cosima shrugged and smiled. "A little, yeah."

Delphine nudged her teasingly with an elbow. "You just have a thing for blondes."

A faint flute began a melody that crescendoed into an orchestral overture. The curtains began to unfurl and they settled back into their seats, Cosima with a small grin as she answered, "Possibly."

"Cheeky."

...

Rachel Berry's strength was always the magic held in the music of her vocal cords, but tonight, she was the most beautiful and graceful of ballerinas. All the training and dedication had paid off, including her morning sessions on the elliptical.

Quinn knew all the curves of the girl's legs by heart, but there was just something so stunning about their tone as they danced around under the Starway lights. Even when she transitioned into blue jeans to belt out the main number, _Only you and you can hear me_, Quinn could still feel her heart surging with an overflow of pride and love for her beautiful, talented, tiny dancer. Singer extraordinaire. Lovely pain in the ass. But always a star.

_Little star_.

And because she knew _she_ was the one Rachel was really singing to and for.

She couldn't wait to celebrate with her tonight. It would be perfect. She just hoped Ramon wouldn't botch up the bouquet delivery for Rachel's dressing room. She preferred to wait until all of the crew and co-stars had said their farewells to greet her girl outside where she always waited with some form of gardenia. Rachel loved big displays of roses in her dressing room, but her favorite would always be the gardenia. She'd also take her flying.

The brunette had been tentative - _frightened_ - even. But after begrudgingly opting for pants and realizing Quinn would never ever let her fall, it had turned into one of the most exhilarating activities she'd look forward to on special nights.

For one, it made her feel special - no one else has dates like this! Suspended, weightless, timeless. Defying gravity. Just the two of them and the universe.

Two, it made the nickname _little star_ ring true in the utmost sense because Quinn would surround her with her atomic brethren in the night sky.

And three, it was special, because if _Fireside_ was free to take her girl to the stars, it meant Starling was safe for tonight, and how wonderful and beautiful the whole world seemed to be.

Unfortunately, one could never be sure in the world of showbiz - or perhaps just the city of Starling.

The final entrance of the Music Man was supposed to set off a fanfare of headlights and smoke machines. But it was Quinn who picked up on the tiniest twitch in those brown eyes that told her something was awry. Always striving for perfection in all her endeavors, one could trust Rachel Berry to notice the emanating of smoke from unscripted locations. And being a part of fire itself, one could trust Quinn Fabray to note the beginnings of the tiniest flicker.

Their eyes had met just in the nick of time.

_EVERYBODY GET DOWN!_ was the warning cry before the explosion, Rachel diving behind the curtains, Quinn hurtling the Mayor under the chairs. Between them, an eruption of stagewood, smoke, flashes, and the tumultuous blaring of horned instruments.

...

Delphine knew that cough anywhere. She'd spent a month making sure the stubborn scientist remained compliant with her new inhaler before it went away. She pushed off the floor and sifted through the smoke, panicked shouts mixed with clamor ringing through the air.

"Delphine!" Cosima cried under a few seats down, her nose stinging as she tried to snort out the fumes and cover her face, her other hand grabbing at the seats. An arm pulled her up and wrapped her close.

"I'm here! Are you okay?"

She nodded. "You?"

"Oui."

Delphine looked around, but could only make out silhouettes scrambling through the haze, dim lights noting the direction of the remaining stage lights teetering from the beams.

"We have to get out of here, chiot," she said breathlessly, ushering them towards the aisle.

"Who are you calling _puppy_, puppy?" replied a snort.

Even in the face of danger, Cosima was impertinently upbeat. It was probably what one would expect from a native of a city in a constant state of disaster. Still, the optimism seemed to rub off on the lieutenant that even her squad had noticed her to be more open, more cheerful… more _insane_.

She chuckled and sniffed a kiss behind the brunette's ear as she held her close, rushing them to the main lobby.

She then concluded that _love_ was a constant state of insanity and that Cosima abounded in it, causing her to branch out and take part in this beautiful existence from having too much 'chemistry' with her surroundings. Now if only she could figure out how to keep the curious mind of her girlfriend from getting itself into trouble when she had to fulfill her duties and go back in to help.

...

"Cosima, help these people leave the lobby, bien? Then stay with the ambulances or by that little coffee shop around the corner, I'll meet you there."

"Wait, where are you going?" she looked up wide-eyed.

Delphine held her shoulders. "I have to go back in and help get people out."

"You don't have to—"

"I'm an officer, ma chérie. It's my duty." The blonde pulled her in and met her lips. "Please don't do anything silly."

"_You_ don't do anything silly!" she called out as the lieutenant turned back to descend the stairs. She always said it whenever Delphine had to leave on another mission. There were many things she'd always wanted to say, but never could.

_Stay._

_Don't leave me…_

"Delphine!" she cried, but her favorite curls had already lost themselves in another surge of fleeing theatre-goers.

_Dammit_. Her arms helped up an elderly woman who had tripped in the escape, legs bounding around them.

She hated feeling useless. She wasn't just a brain. She prided herself in creating actions out of mental designs. And besides, they'd need more than brawn to figure out just what the hell happened tonight, right?

She ran outside and saw a crowd of people decked in their evening black suits and dresses, mixed with citizens looking on at the commotion. The sounds in the air announced the recent arrival of sirens.

_Lights, music, costumes_. She hadn't seen any of the performers yet on the street.

She rushed back to the lobby that led to the mezzanine seats, the grand staircase leading down to the orchestra. People were still scurrying out. Her lieutenant would still be busy - not to mention _upset_ if she went back down there.

Cosima skirted to the side balconies and into the corridors of the mezzanine, looking for a way backstage.

_Sorry, puppy. I'm not gonna sit around and wait anymore._

...


	3. Chapter 3

...

"Mr. Mayor, are you okay?" she asked hurriedly, eyes scanning around for another possible explosion, her hairs on end sensing smoke, looking for sparks.

He rolled to his side as she helped him up. "Yes, thank you. My wife—"

"I'm here, Phil," choked a voice beside them. "I'm alright."

Quinn focused her eyes through the fumes hovering over the remnants of the stage but couldn't see anything that resembled a tiny brunette. She trusted Rachel to be able to run backstage and escape. The girl had perfected the fire drill, after all.

Still. She always worried until she could hold her in her arms again, but first she needed to get these people to safety.

"Mr. Mayor, let's get you guys out of here. This way!"

She directed them through the haze and saw the exit signs.

"Hey!" called a woman. "Over here!"

They made their way towards her as she directed others to the exits.

"Who are you?" Quinn breathed under the weight of her two wards. She could make out blonde curls and hazel eyes like hers.

"1st Lieutenant Cormier, Aviation Regiment. Helping until the authorities get here," the woman huffed. "You?"

"Quinn Fabray," she quipped, somewhat relieved to have an officer on hand. "This is Mayor Coulson and his wife, can you take care of them?"

"Oui, I know, I saw them in the audience earlier - you were the blonde next to them," the woman replied as she supported the VIPs in her arms. "You're not coming?"

Quinn whirled around. "My girlfriend's still back there."

...

She swiped her purse and a pair of jeans off the costume rack. She couldn't believe this was happening.

_On Opening Night._

This never happened to Barbra or Patti.

Starling City was fucking insane. Maybe she should've taken up Quinn's offer to move in together in suburbia, become a soccer mom.

But no way was she going to let her talents go to waste on community theatre. She'd probably end up drinking her life away at that point.

Come to think of it, the crazy life of being a superhero's significant other might also end in rehab. Or, worse…

She gulped at the thought.

Starling villainy seemed to have an innate obsession with setting off explosions. It was like they were all old ex-Starway performers with pent up bitterness from years of rejection, furnishing themselves into bonafide celebrities by bursting lights and fires, searing their way into the evening news and morning papers.

She recalled that one blast right after graduation. The audition she had gone to was coincidentally in the same building that happened to be targeted. She was thrown out of the window, shattered glass preceding her.

But someone had saved her in a ball of fire that didn't hurt. Someone who had always been keeping her safe all along.

It was the day she found out about Quinn's powers.

_How come your flames don't hurt me?_ she'd asked, dumbstruck.

_Because I don't let them,_ the fire answered in a very familiar voice that calmed her to silence.

_Are you okay?_ the fire had asked as they descended onto a quiet rooftop with a view of the skyscrapers and the harbor beyond.

She dared to study the bright eyes and said, _Yes. You just… sound like someone I know, it's—_

Their feet touched cement. _What?_ the voice asked with that same low, husky tone.

Rachel realized this emblazoned heroine who she'd heard of countless times in the papers was still holding her in a sort of embrace reminiscent of one particular formal night when a wonderful girl in a purple dress held her close and whispered lyrics from a Berlin song, humming _If only for today, I am unafraid__,_ and how the girl spoke of wanting to tell her something, but that they kissed and _you __take my breath away__,_ and oh my god did Rachel finally get it as she flushed and said, _You remind me of this girl, Quinn._

And in that instant the flames disappeared and the light beams in their eyes softened to reveal hazel eyes that looked at her lovingly against the backdrop of the setting sun. _I am Quinn…_ she said softly.

And how Rachel smiled her big beautiful smile. _I knew it was you._

It was like the ending to her favorite movies, but that it was _real_. And that it was a new beginning.

Unfortunately, if superheroes were real, that meant crime was afoot that necessitated their existence. _Fireside_ would be needed tonight.

She pulled a rose from the enormous bouquet that no doubt Quinn was behind, slightly upset that she couldn't haul the whole thing out. It would've been a wonderful date night. At least she didn't fall and break her talent.

She sighed and hurried into the corridor.

...

"Excuse me!" she called to the girl with the _unique_.. hair that reminded her of a certain Joe. Except that the girl had quite a fetching pair of eyeglasses. _A hipster!_ she concluded. She wondered if she'd look as good in glasses.

"Hey," the girl waved, shifting to an awkward stance. _Definitely not a performer__,_ Rachel mused.

She met her in the middle of the corridor. "Are you okay? Are you lost?"

"No! I, uh— yeah.." The girl shook her head, dreads whipping the air. "Are _you_ okay?"

Rachel scrunched her face, trying to form words. "I would be… if I was _outside_. There's been an explosion, the situation could turn volatile."

"You know what, um. You're totally right—"

"Did you even _watch_ the show?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. It was… crazy—"

"Do you even know who I am?"

A low rumbling started from down the hallway that led to the dressing rooms. _Why were they even having this conversation?_ They met each other's worried brows.

"I think we should get outta here."

"I agree that it would be in our best interests."

The rumbling grew louder.

"Like, _RUN_!" the quirky girl shouted, pushing her to move.

The mezzanine balcony in front of them began to tremble, halting their escape.

"Okay, no, this way!" Rachel beckoned, turning around.

"What? Isn't that the wrong way?"

Rachel grabbed the girl's arm. "The mezzanine looks like it's about to surrender itself to the ground, we are not going that way."

"I'd just like to point out that, um, the rumble of possible _death_ from chemical combustion is.. _back—there__!_"

"There's a freight elevator that opens on to the street, _that's_ our ticket out."

The girl shook her head. "That sounds.. absolutely ridiculous."

"Do you have a better idea?"

Shouts echoed in the distance, then a thundering crash.

"Fuck this, dude— can you get us out of here as well as you can sing?" the girl breathed as they scrambled back into the corridors.

Rachel huffed, "You really don't know who I am, do you?"

A snort. "Yeah, I do. Rachel Berry. Tiny dancer, _Great Starway golden girl_.."

"Are you mocking me?"

A laugh.

Rachel grumbled as she rounded them past the dressing rooms. "And you are?"

Her companion flashed a smile. "Cosima Niehaus, molecular nanotechnology. Never been to a theatre until today. Must be my lucky day."

...

They had just scrambled into the grey-walled expanse and hurriedly tapped the G button when something hit the remaining clarity of Cosima's mental consciousness like a fly splattering on a windshield down the interstate.

"_Shit_…"

The brunette faced her, long wavy strands whirling as the elevator gate closed. "What?"

Gears began their grind in the shaft as a rasping heralded the box's movement.

"Elevator," she sputtered.

"What?" the girl repeated, the garments in her arms seemingly about to be flung.

Cosima inhaled sharply and blinked. "We're not supposed to use an elevator during an emergency.."

The Starway performer mimicked her realization. "Oh, fudgekins."

A silence ensued in almost a form of prayer as they started their descent.

"Well, at least we're still moving," Cosima reassured as the girl began to fidget against the wall. _How could I be so stupid? Great job, genius._

But in a matter of seconds, the sound of metal choking accompanied the jolting halt that lurched them forward, their arms flinging out, grasping for the rails.

"Spoke too soon," she griped. "Shit."

"Thank you for jinxing us, _Cosima_," the girl breathed as she carefully placed her things on the floor and hurried towards the control panel.

Cosima fixed her glasses and huffed, "Hey, this was, like, _your_ idea, _Miss Berry_."

"It's _Rachel_."

She walked up to the singer tapping furiously at the buttons. "I didn't know we were friends - _what_ are you doing?"

The lights flickered but the elevator didn't move. Rachel heaved a sigh and walked back to her things. "I guess we're going to have to be. We're stuck."

"Great," she paced in front of the control panel. "Did you press the emergency button?"

"Of course I did."

She pulled out her phone. _No signal._

"Do you have signal?"

The brunette shook her head and tossed a black device onto the floor, the clatter resounding through the still air.

Cosima ran her hands from the crown of dreads to her face and slinked down beside her companion. "My girlfriend is going to kill me. Unless being stuck in here with _you_ is going to kill me first."

She stole a glance at the brunette who was now struggling out of her dress. "Whoa, _what_ are you doing? We just became friends—"

"Oh shut it, Cosima," the girl grunted before turning her back and flicking wavy hair over one shoulder. "And help unzip me."

"_What_.."

"It's _hot_ and I need to change out of this costume, it's hardly escape-friendly material. And besides, I would ask you out to dinner first."

Cosima gaped and shook her head. She didn't think she would ever meet anyone that was more of a brat than what Delphine always reminded her to be guilty of.

"You Starway people are totes ridiculous," she grumbled as she leaned over and tugged on the zipper. A smirk formed on her face.

Rachel scrunched her forehead and grabbed her jeans. "Don't look!"

"I thought we were friends."

"Oh, shut up."

Cosima chuckled and turned away. "I wasn't smirking at _you_, you brat."

"Oh, really."

"Trust me," she laughed, then grew quiet. "I was just about to say that I didn't need dinner first. Just a cup of coffee and some crazy science.."

"Okay, you may open your eyes now."

She didn't want to admit it, but the theatre star had this _cute-but-kinda-sexy_ air about her. Even in jeans.

"I hate to say, but you actually look like a normal person now."

The girl beamed. "Why, thank you, Cosima. You still look like a hipster."

"Are you shitting me?" Arms flew. "This is sorta hippie, but _not_.. _hipster_."

"Hm, really?"

"Uh, yeah."

Rachel crawled over to snatch the rejected phone. "I wanted to audition for this hipster role once. I had to wear glasses— Quinn found it quite fetching."

"Quinn. Is that your girlfriend?" Cosima snorted at the thought of the poor girl who had to deal with the diva's daily existence. Even if she was cute, she could imagine the black phone not being the only thing that would be flung in a tantrum.

"Mhmm," the girl smiled, light brimming from her eyes.

"Is she okay?" she thought aloud while her inner thoughts ran to an officer with blonde curls. She checked her phone again to no avail. Delphine was definitely going to kick her ass.

"I have no doubt about it," Rachel piped, seemingly content with settling into the fluff of her bag. "What about your girlfriend?"

She sighed. "Probably somewhere in the building looking for me and upset that I didn't listen again."

"Is looking for people in exploding buildings something you two do for dates?"

"What? _No_."

"Then what were you doing in the mezzanine?"

Cosima leaned her head back against the wall and blew a breath. "I was trying to help."

Rachel smirked. "I admire your efforts."

"Shut up, _Tiny_."

"You're not that colossal, Miss Molecular Nanotechnology. Emphasis on the words 'molecular' and 'nano'."

Cosima ruffled her dreads. "Well.. Delphine - my girlfriend - she's always the one being a hero. I just wanted to be useful for once, maybe."

"Hero, huh," Rachel mused. "What does she do?"

"She's a lieutenant in the air force, special ops. She's.. it's hella rad," she grinned, then nodded to the girl beside her. "She'll get us out of here - so no need to worry your little self."

"Oh, I don't worry," the girl chuckled. "_Quinn_ will get us out of here faster."

A laugh. "Oh, really? And what does Quinn do?"

A pause.

"She's a real estate agent."

Cosima slumped her head. "_Great_."

...


	4. Chapter 4

...

"Thank you, Lieutenant," the suited man coughed as he ushered his wife to the ambulances.

"Just doing my duty, Mr. Mayor," she replied, eyes darting around the crowd on the street. She'd have to check the cafe.

"Are you alright?"

She turned back to her officials. "Oh, oui, Mr. Mayor. If I may, I need to check if others have made it out as well."

She rushed through the spectators, scanning for dreadlocks. She went past the sirens and pushed open the café door.

"Lieutenant Cormier! Were you inside the Great Starway?"

She hurried to the counter. "Angie! Was Cosima in here?"

"No, I wouldn't miss her if she did. Is everything okay?"

"_Merde__…_" She glanced up to the worried face of the barista. "Oui, I'm okay. But I have to look for Cosima. Stay safe."

She ran back out to the streets and opened her phone. _I'm sorry, the number you are trying to reach is currently out of coverage area._

"Dammit, Cosima!" she grazed a hand through her curls and looked to the theatre, now surrounded by emergency vehicles and firetrucks trying to extinguish the blaze that had broken out after the deafening collapse of the remaining stage lights.

_Where are you.._

She turned to sweep the crowd once more, this time passing the news trucks.

"…and not everyone from the production has been accounted for, including several members of the orchestra and the leading lady herself, Rachel Berry. It…"

Delphine's eyes widened at the reporters in front of their news cameras.

"Not everyone was evacuated?" she called out, accidentally walking into a camera frame.

"Miss…" the camera man waved.

The news lady stopped mid-report with a shocked expression. "Who are you? Jacob Ben, get her out of here—"

"There are still people inside?" Delphine pressed, stepping on the microphone wires.

"Yes!" the woman squeaked as crew men mobbed the scene to usher the blonde out of the shot.

The lieutenant brushed them off and looked up at the burning expanse. Half of the building was still intact. She was quite sure Cosima hadn't gone back into the orchestra seats. But would Cosima had gone back and into another part of the theatre?

_Please don't do anything silly._

_**You** don't do anything silly._

She cursed under her breath. Cosima hadn't promised. She was never content just staying on the sidelines. _It's a waste of my brain__,_ she'd say.

_Just please be okay__,_ she thought as she sneaked past police lines and back into the side doors of the Great Starway.

...

She wrapped the red wool tighter over her arm. She just had to check the seats in case her little scientist went back for her favorite coat. She realized Cosima didn't have it on when they had gotten out, and it was the first idea she'd had of figuring out where the girl could have gone.

But the coat was still in place when she arrived, edged into the seat. Cosima had not been there.

She remembered the untouched side of the building and looked up at the mezzanine seats. There was an emergency exit door on the balcony with its sign still flickering. But the mezzanine corridor had collapsed on her way out with the Mayor - _could there be another way?_

She looked back at the hazy remnants of the wide stage, wondering why the emergency forces had still not arrived to this part of the theatre.

Another flicker, but this time of something that was not electrical. _Had the fire spread?_

"Hey!" a familiar voice called out from within the mangled wood and steel that had covered half of what used to be the stage in its diagonal.

"Hello?" she called back, stepping towards the sound.

A wisp of fire. She quickened over the destruction.

"Merde, are you alright?" she breathed, sliding down to find a mop of blonde emerging from the rubble, tugging out a man, tuxedo crumpled and sooted, as he groaned.

"Yeah, we just need to get the remaining orchestra members out of the pit." The blonde looked up at her.

It was the girl who had carried the Mayor.

"Quinn, right?" she blurted, kneeling down beside them as the blonde checked the rescued for injuries.

Hazel eyes met hers. "Yeah. And you're Lt. Cormier, I remember."

"Delphine," she offered. "I thought you were going back for your girlfriend."

"I am, but these people needed help first." The girl slid back into the hole, a few more strained voices calling from within.

Delphine carefully followed down, checking the stability of the mess and helping lift out a few more people. Broken bones, burns, cuts. She began to worry for Cosima.

"Quinn," she called out as they stabilized the last one.

"Yeah?"

"I need to go look for Cosima. _My_ girlfriend."

"The rescue crews are on their way in. When they get here, I need to look for Rachel as well," Quinn replied.

Delphine found it extraordinary how calm she was. And, for one, she did not expect this elegant blonde in the black dress to be pulling people out of rubble. _And what strength she had._ And…

Shouts filled the silence. They gazed out to see EMTs and firemen making their way down the orchestra aisle.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"You wanted to go look for your girl, right?"

She glanced up at the blonde next to her and nodded.

"Then we should go. You know the authorities wouldn't let us stay in here with the fires blazing, even if you are an officer."

Delphine scrunched her brows. _Who is this girl?_

Quinn noted the hesitation. "The authorities just got here. If we don't go look for Cosima and Rachel, how long do you think it will take for them to even start a search?"

Delphine sighed and shook her head. "Bien. Do you know how to get to the mezzanine? I think she might have gone there."

...

They ran through the dressing rooms backstage, Quinn opening a few doors, though she never called out a name. _How did she know her way around backstage?_

Then it dawned on Delphine. _Rachel._

"Quinn," she called out as the blonde led them through the corridor. "Is your Rachel, Rachel _Berry_?"

The girl in the black dress stopped and turned around.

"Yeah.."

Delphine lowered her eyes, remembering the news report. "The news people.. they said she hadn't come out yet."

Quinn blinked at the floor before facing her again. "I know."

"She was on stage when the blast happened," she said carefully. It would not do well to have a hysteric madwoman running around with her in a burning building, if Quinn was capable of turning into that also.

"She's alright," Quinn replied, still calm. _Is this how she showed denial at the possibility?_

"How do you know?" she blurted, her own preoccupations at Cosima's safety overcoming her temperance.

A small smile formed at the edges of the blonde's lips. "I sent a bouquet to her dressing room. One rose was missing, along with her purse. I know it was her."

Delphine took a deep breath and nodded.

"Hey," Quinn continued. "How do _you_ know Cosima's okay?"

The lieutenant paused, then gave a light smile. "Because she's too smart not to be."

The other lifted a brow and glanced at one of the dressing rooms before speaking. "Um.. maybe I should change out of this dress really quick."

It was Delphine's turn to puzzle her brows. "There's no time - the fire might already be spreading here."

"It's not."

"How do you know?" she asked once again, confusion building altitude. But the girl had already shut the door behind her.

...

She watched the seconds tick around her wristwatch.

"So, uh.. where is this Quinn? I thought she'd set a world record. Not that, uh, this is something that should be celebrated."

Rachel looked at her hands. "She's probably helping get people out, knowing her."

Cosima snorted. "And leave you, huh."

"She knows I can take care of myself," the tiny brunette quipped before grinning. "She taught me herself."

"It's nice to know she taught you where the elevators are inside buildings.."

A huff. Rachel faced her. "What is wrong with you?"

She shifted her shoulders, shaking out her dreads before letting out an exasperated breath. "How is anyone going to know we're here, Rachel? We have, like, _no_ signal and there's probably going to be a fire after that explosion - _how _are you not worried?"

"Because Quinn has never failed to come back to me."

Cosima met her glare. Rachel nodded.

"It's not about how many times they leave, Cosima. It's about how they come back. Every time."

She blinked at the new understanding. Rachel, under all her layers of makeup and character roles, somehow seemed to have a better, more intelligent grasp at the big things.

Had she focused too much on the molecular level of it all?

"And besides," Rachel added. "I'm a little psychic, Cosima — and I _did_ push the emergency button."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "So we wait, huh."

The tiny brunette nodded. "We wait."

But waiting was not Cosima's forte. Her mind wanted out - if not literally then figuratively. It wanted to run and do all the flying, all the things her physical self was unable to do.

"No."

Rachel turned back to her. "What?"

Cosima waved her hands. "Exploding buildings."

She was met with a shaking of the head. "…Yes? We might have to accept that fact that this building might deliver us to the high heavens, unfortunately—"

"No, uh.. you said something about exploding buildings earlier."

Rachel scrunched her face.

Cosima turned to her and continued. "Well, um.. this isn't the first time a bomb has gone off in Starling, right?"

"That is correct," she nodded, recalling that blast she'd been caught in, and Quinn.

"Then this is most likely connected!"

There was a flicker in the brown eyes. "So not the smoke machines rejecting prior stage directions.."

Cosima cocked her head. "Uhh.. _no_. Okay." She shifted into a more comfortable position. "Over the past several years, there have been incidents of explosions happening around the city - and, sure, there have been a few implications as to who might be responsible.."

"Yes! There was that low life grifter that got sentenced - Vic the Dick?"

"Yeah! _But_.. the detonations continued even after he was locked up, and they've all kind of occurred under similar circumstances; Starling landmarks, events where there is bound to be an audience.."

"I think they just wanted to make the papers."

"But there _is_ a pattern."

Rachel glanced to the side in thought. "They have happened more sparingly since Victor was put away though. But this pattern.. Are you saying there's a higher power involved?"

Cosima looked at her. "Do you really think he was capable of setting those off by himself and, what, maybe a motley crew of grifters? To be, what.. just 'Almost Famous'?"

"The limelight is an extraordinary experience, Cosima."

"Rachel, c'mon. A bomb made of highly combustible metals? They'd need to have a knowledge of coating those from rapid oxidation to even be able to install them in a target location. Even we in the molecular division are still figuring out how to do so effectively with these new synthetic metals we've been… _Shit_."

"What?" Rachel shook her head. "You lost me at convertible."

Cosima blinked harshly under the spectacles, her mind whirring through flashes of moments in board rooms. She finally focused back on her companion.

"The Mayor was in attendance tonight," she blurted.

"It _is_ opening night of the Great Starway," Rachel replied.

"_He_ was the target."

Brown eyes widened. Cosima glanced up at the control panel.

"I'm going to try some crazy science on that - you keep trying your phone. We need to get outta here. Starling is in for a bad trip."

Rachel looked down at dark screen. _Quinn, where are you?_

...


	5. Chapter 5

...

The door opened and Quinn stepped out in black pants and a matching top.

Delphine couldn't believe that, in the middle of a disaster, the girl had the time or inclination to change outfits. Though when she thought about it, it had only been seconds.

"It's hard to bound around a burning building in a dress, Delphine," Quinn muttered, noticing the look on the other girl's face.

The curly-haired blonde shook her head. "Bien. Are you- are you finished then?"

"Let's go."

...

They quickly maneuvered the corridors opposite the fallen mezzanine until a barrier of crumbled structures and fire stopped them in their tracks. A hallway could be seen through the spots in the flames.

Delphine glanced at Quinn. "You think they could be down there?"

Quinn looked back from where they came. "There's no other way left except through here."

"How do we know they're even still here..?" It was almost a whisper amongst the crackling of the blaze.

She turned to her companion. "There's a freight elevator at the end of the hallway. Rachel's talked about it before."

Delphine breathed heavily. "No one uses an elevator in a fire, Quinn."

She looked straight ahead, wondering if she should make up an excuse for the officer to turn back and leave her to find the girls. The fire and their own lungs' search for available oxygen were not the only sounds she could hear. She _sensed _Rachel. There was also an urgency in the air where the brunette was, and it wasn't because of the destruction around them.

"No, she's there," she nodded.

The lieutenant blinked in confusion.

Quinn took a deep breath and faced the officer, worried that Rachel was losing her own breath in the smoke. She needed to risk it. She'd just have to find a way to take care of it later if it proved to be trouble, though the lieutenant seemed an upright sort.

Quinn blew a breath. "You know how I was able to find our way here? And how I knew Rachel was alright when we were saving those orchestra members, or how I knew that the emergency crews were about to enter the theatre?"

Delphine gulped and tried to grasp an understanding. "Bien…"

"I can sense those things. I know Rachel's down there - and so is someone else. And it might be Cosima."

"How do you know all these things..?" Delphine retorted. "And if they are down there, we'd both burn to death before we reach them—"

"Delphine," Quinn chided.

And with a sigh, Quinn Fabray, blonde girl in black, had burst half into flames.

"Quinn!" Delphine started towards her.

But the girl didn't yell in pain, nor did her pretty face contort. Her body didn't twitch, and she seemed to levitate off the floor. In fact, she seemed extremely calm for her state and her eyes were beginning to shine.

"Delphine! You're going have to hold onto my back," she called out.

The lieutenant gaped in shock. "What?"

"We're going to fly through this and you have to hold onto me so we won't burn!"

"You're already on fire!" she yelled back.

Quinn floated towards her and whirled around. "Come _on_! I'll explain later- Rachel and Cosima, they need us."

_Merde__,_ Delphine swore, before leaping onto the human fireball with a grunt and a surprising feeling of comfortable, warm lift.

She wasn't burning, and they were flying through the ring of fire and rubble. An air force lieutenant latched onto the back of a human jetpack.

"Quinn."

"Yeah?"

"Please don't tell Cosima this happened."

...

She sighed and sat back down. "If we ever get out of here before our girlfriends find us, please don't tell Delphine this happened."

"Just say it was my fault."

"It _is _your fault."

"Well."

A cough.

Rachel covered the panel circuitry they had attempted to configure with no luck and sat beside her. "Are you alright?"

Cosima cleared her throat and resumed her scan of the ceiling. "Yeah.. aren't elevators supposed to have some sort of, like, emergency exit hatch? I think there's a fire spreading, I can smell some sort of fume."

Rachel looked around and drew in a breath. "I don't smell anything." She chuckled nervously, "Is there a secret power you failed to inform me of?"

"No, I have asthma."

"Oh."

"Smoke makes me cough."

"I hope it's the good kind of smoke."

Cosima gaped at her in contorted awe. "There's something wrong with you. Like, seriously, dude. Ugh—"

A few more coughs.

"I am going to have to teach you breathing exercises to assist in strengthening your lung capacity," Rachel patted her back, but she began to smell it too.

"Shut up, man."

Then, heat.

They looked up to where it seemed to come from and saw the metal ceiling begin to glow and melt, a line tracing the shape of a box.

Cosima shot up. "What the hell is that?"

A muffled shout from above.

Rachel smiled. "_Quinn__._"

"Quinn?" Cosima's gaze jumped back and forth from the brunette walking towards the heat and the moving line on the ceiling.

The voice became clearer.

"Rachel?"

"Yes, babe, I'm here! Fantastic timing!"

Cosima's eyes widened. _Fantastic timing?_

The voice continued with the searing. "Rachel, stand back, the ceiling's gonna drop."

"_What__.._"

Rachel pulled them against the wall. "Watch out, Quinn's opening up the top so we can make our getaway."

Cosima braced herself on the railing, confused. She mouthed, "I thought Quinn was a real estate agent."

Rachel flashed another smile. "She is."

They winced as the metal block crashed onto the floor, the vibrations rippling around the box, smoke exuding from the piece. From the edges of the molten square above, the light of an inferno.

"She's also fire."

Her brows crumpled as she glanced back at the tiny diva. "Like what do you mean, 'fire'?"

Then through the hole, a flame in the shape of a human descended. Cosima's eyes widened further as a yelp escaped her.

"Quinn is _Fireside_?"

The face in the blaze formed a smile with a line of light before it spoke. "And you're Cosima."

She blinked and shifted in surprise, mouth still gaping, unable to form the words _how did you know_. It was probably some super power.

Rachel trotted up, untouched by the flames. At the first touch of the embrace, _Fireside_ extinguished herself to reveal a pretty girl with nice cheekbones and tousled blonde hair.

"You.. I saw you in the front row earlier..!" she was finally able to squeak.

Quinn smirked and looked fondly at the girl in her arms. "I couldn't miss Opening Night."

Cosima turned away awkwardly as the two shared a quick kiss. "Uhh, _thank you_. I guess, uh. For, um.. saving us."

"It's my duty," Starling's hometown heroine replied.

Cosima fell quiet, remembering her girlfriend's same words.

Quinn smiled and called out to the hole above. "Delphine! Cosima's okay!"

Another voice from the beyond. A familiar accent. A lovely voice that made Cosima's heart leap.

"_Merde_— Cosima, I told you _to stay away from trouble_!"

More swearing in french. It made her grin like a fool.

"You wanna go up?" Quinn smiled at her. She nodded.

...


End file.
